Newell Normand, longtime sheriff of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, looks at scenes of protests in Minnesota, which are becoming increasingly deadly, and sees mayhem.
"This is going absolutely crazy in Minneapolis," Normand said to open his show on Monday. "We have an entire breakdown of a structured and ordered society that's going on there. And we're not willing to compromise on any of our beliefs or what we think certain things are, should be, or otherwise, and that's really dangerous. In fact, we can't even agree as to whether or not both Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who was the victim of a homicide Saturday. Yeah, a homicide."
The sheriff went on to say people shouldn't get "freaked out" for his term on what happened when ICE agents shot nurse Alex Pretti to death on the street during a protest because homicide, legally, means "the killing of one person by another." And that's clearly what happened.
"It doesn't necessarily mean murder. But when people read these headlines they're running around believing that the coroner or medical officer chief medical officer of this another county of the city or whatever is classifying the Renee Good killing as a murder. That's not what they're saying, but if you get on social media it's ... people are believing things that aren't necessarily true."
Good and Pretti were both shot to death by ICE agents in Minneapolis, who were ordered there by President Donald Trump to sweep for migrants. Both were at protests when they were killed. Pretti had a registered firearm on his belt, following open carry regulations that many in the GOP have pushed for, and that were approved in Minnesota; Good was unarmed, and in her car. Still, both were at protests and were standing against federal agents, which Newell said was engaging in a dangerous activity.
"(Protesters) are placing yourself in a very precarious situation. You are engaging in a conduct that's very, very dangerous," Newell added. "We should know that common sense should prevail ... One would think maybe it's not a good idea to bring weapons to a protest ... You would think that we might be able to agree to that. You would also think that there might be some consensus around the thought that government who's trying to uphold an ordered and structured society would not give in to folks that are protesting something. And you have the governor and the mayor backing those individuals to believe that they are going to be able to compel the federal government to pack it up and walk away.
"If you do that once, you're done because you've been overpowered."
Newell blamed the leadership of Minnesota for the "mayhem" that's been unleashed there since thousands of federal agents flooded the streets over the protests of the governor and other local leaders.
"They keep talking in terms that are incredibly inflammatory. Governor Walz the other day said ICE going after illegal aliens with criminal records is like the Nazis going after Anne Frank. Really? That's the analogy that we're going to make, and that everyone who buys into that ideology believes that this is the best way to go about that. One would think that we might be able to come to some consensus as it relates to the fact that there are immigration laws on the books.
"And in fact, in a not too distant past, it was a significant talking point of Democratic politicians running for public office -- the deportation of illegal aliens in this country.... So, where did this run amok?"
Newell added the words of Andrew Bustamante, an Air Force veteran and former CIA agent, whose family migrated to this country illegally. He talks about it openly. But he says that immigration is not a human right. Movement is a human right. Immigration is a legal issue.
Immigration is intended to bring in people that will contribute to society, and to keep out people who "consume an asymmetrical amount of resources compared to what they create," Newell said. And protests shouldn't be able to undermine the foundational understanding of immigration, and rule of law.
"If one believes that you can allow that group of individuals to alter the course of government response otherwise involved in taking legal action under the law, then we're in trouble. Because this will happen in every city. Every ideological bent will take to the streets, challenge enforcement, whether it be law enforcement, regulatory enforcement, or otherwise. It doesn't matter. Because they now believe that they are empowered to alter the course of it, whether they follow the law or not. And that's the kicker. This is not about peaceful protests.
"These officers are not paid to be spit on. They have snowballs throw at them, urine bottles thrown at them while they're trying to impact an arrest, you know, pushing the officers and everything else. That's not what they're paid to do. And then the Monday morning quarterbacking as to what's going on. Split-second decisions having to be made. I'm not saying that this is a justified killing. I don't know enough to reach that conclusion one way or the other. What I do know is that there's rhetoric on both sides. The government's response; Minnesota's response; Minneapolis' response. And those that are protesting their response is off the charts
He added it'll take some time to figure out the state of mind of the officers who opened fire -- shooting Pretti an estimated ten times in five seconds in the back while he was face down on the ground, and Good several times through her windshield on the street.
"What they saw, what they didn't see ... But one thing I know for certain ... You've heard me say this. Always try to put myself in the shoes of the individual... That I had gone to a protest armed, and I ended up in an encounter with law enforcement. The first thing I'm doing is going to my knees, laying on my chest, putting my hands behind neck and letting the world know that I am armed legally. Because the moment in time that I get into a fist encounter, a struggle, or whatever it may be, I have an apparatus strapped to my side that changes the construct of the entire encounter. The entire encounter changes. And it doesn't matter whether or not you have the weapon on your side legally or not. I also know one other thing, I am not going to walk up on an officer while he's involved in a situation in the middle of the street from behind his back knowing that I'm armed. Knowing that maybe as I raise my arms with a video camera on my phone in one hand that it may expose a weapon on my side because what would I expect ? What do you think is going to happen? Officers are going to draw down on you."